Were you one of the many millions who watched the Superbowl tonight? Of course, the game was one of the most exciting in history with a half-time show by Madonna with mixed reviews of her tame and lacklucker performance, in my opinion. A controversy was stirred when rapper MIA flipped the middle finger during the performance but that wasn’t the only controversy depicted in my mind and other dog enthusiasts
The commercials -they seem to be as important as the game as they are reviewed by all networks. Which was the best? Which was the worst? Some were leaked to the media a week ago. One, in particular, was known about by dog enthusiasts for awhile. Did you catch it?
The Skechers commercial showed greyhounds being led up to the start line to race. The race ensued with a French Bulldog approaching and winning the race because he was wearing a pair of Skechers. You can view the commercial here. The buzz about this commercial seems to be about Kim Kardashain, the talentless, fame- whore, reality star, who was replaced in this commercial by Mr. Quiggly, the French Bulldog. For me the buzz was about the greyhounds.
While on the surface, this commercial seems funny to some. But, this is no laughing matter particularly for those who rescue Greyhounds from the dog racing industry. I can’t find the humor in an ad that essentially promotes Greyhound racing. From the tweets I read, no one seems to care about the dogs. Is this ignorance shining through or simply apathy?
The commercial was protested before being aired by those involved in saving these dogs’ lives. Here is what Skechers had to say about that:
“Skechers is not involved in the debate of greyhound racing – there are a number of groups that like it – there are a number of groups that don’t like it, and all of them are dog lovers and greyhound lovers.”
“The American Humane Association was at the filming of the commercial and vouched for it. No dogs were harmed,” said Leonard Armato, president of Skechers.”We think people are absolutely gonna love the commercial and by the way, dogs in the Super Bowl is like bread on butter … I mean … it’s something that happens all the time, so we believe once everybody sees the commercial, all of this will die down.”
I, for one, detested the commercial. Depicting and glorifying greyhound racing is despicable. Greyhound racing is inhumane to greyhounds who lose their lives every day when they are too slow and can’t win money for those who gamble on them.
Greyhounds are beautiful dogs with great temperments and loving personalities who are subjected to the horrors of the dog racing industry for pure profit. They live in deplorable conditions and are kept crated nearly 20 hours out of 24. Their sole purpose is to win money for those who gamble on them. When they are no longer wanted, they are brutally killed.
There are many groups, including local First State Greyhounds Rescue that literally saves the lives of the unwanted greyhounds. Check out their website to learn more about this barbaric industry. Click on above link.
In the United States, more than 7,000 Greyhounds lose their lives each year because they are no longer fast enough to compete in dog racing, while others sustain racing-related injuries. Some of these dogs find homes through various adoption groups, but all too many are killed.
Do you still think the commercial was funny?